


Summer at the Lakehouse

by Hamiltalian



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Gen, does it count as major character death if he's already dead?, it does for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 01:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17757101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamiltalian/pseuds/Hamiltalian
Summary: Angelica Hamilton sees a familiar face while on a vacation at the lakehouse with her family





	Summer at the Lakehouse

Endless warm days. Clear, blue skies and a perfect spot at a lake house. This is how the Hamiltons were spending their summer season, a nearly picture perfect family. It would’ve been hard to imagine that this family had been torn apart only months ago.

Philip sighed as he watched his family, glad that they were having fun, but wishing he could join them. Unfortunately, he lost that opportunity just a few months ago, during his fatal duel with a Mr George Eacker. He didn’t regret what he did, it wasn’t his fault that Eacker shot and he understood that Eacker didn’t mean to kill him. His only regret was the fact that he couldn’t say goodbye to his family - more specifically, to his younger siblings. Now, he sat across from the lake, invisible to the human eye, a literal ghost.

Still, he enjoyed watching his family have such a pleasant time. He enjoyed seeing his brothers and sisters splashing in the water as his parents watched, baby Philip, named after his deceased brother, sitting in his mother’s lap. They were happy and it was all that Philip wanted.

A couple of hours into watching them, he found that he had an audience. His sister, Angelica, was looking right at him, eyes wide as saucers and skin pale as snow.

“Mama!” she cried out, going to the shore. “I see Philip! I see Philip, he’s right over there!”

Eliza furrowed her eyebrows and looked where  the girl was pointing, but knew the truth as soon as she heard her daughter’s claims. “Angie, please calm down dear. Philip’s gone.. He isn’t there..”

And when Angelica looked back over, she found that her mother was right.. Philip wasn’t there. Not anymore, at least. “But I know I saw him…”

Philip frowned, keeping himself invisible. He knew that a few living humans were able to see him, he’d been friends himself with a spirit by the name of John Laurens, but he didn’t think his own sister would be the same… At least baby Philip couldn’t tell their mother about his dead brother’s visits.

Philip kept himself hidden for the rest of the day, not wanting to cause another disturbance. Once the dark of night fell over the lake and everyone made their way inside, Philip came back out, sitting with his feet in the water as he waited for everyone to go to sleep, for it to be safe for him to go and watch over his youngest brother, his namesake.

The last thing he expected was for Angelica to come outside.

It was around midnight, judging by the moon’s spot in the sky, and Angelica came outside, managing to get a small rowboat into the water and rowing towards where she’d seen Philip. She stopped in the middle of the water and stood up, calling for her brother. “Philip!” she cried out repeatedly, only stopping when his ghost appeared a few feet before her on the water. “I knew I saw you, I just knew it!”

“Shh..” he said quietly. “Angelica, mother and father can’t know that you saw me. I’m not.. I’m not with you anymore,” he told her, heart aching. “Please, you have to accept my death..”

Angelica frowned, a hint of confusion in her expression. “What do you mean?.. You’re right here.. I see you, Philip. You’re talking to me..”

He sighed and took her hands. “I know.. But I’m not in the same world.. You have to go back inside and act like this never happened, okay?.. I’ll be back, but nobody can know..”

She let out a distressed sigh, but nodded, tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Angelica!” their father called suddenly, startling her into stumbling into the water.

“Angie!” Philip called, helpless as he watched her sink. There was no way he could help her. The only person he could come in contact with was baby Philip, the one whose life he’d been sent to guide.

Though most of the family could only watch, none of them being very proficient swimmers, their father, wasted no time in helping her, jumping into the freezing water and swimming over as quickly as he could and pulling his daughter to the surface and onto her rowboat as quickly as his strength would allow. “Please be okay,” he begged. “I can’t lose you.. Not you too..” After losing Philip, the idea of losing another child was unbearable.. And to lose her because he simply wasn’t fast enough to help her? It would’ve proved the demons in his head right. It would’ve proved that he was a failure of a father.

Answering his pleads, Angelica suddenly sat up and coughed out whatever water had made its way into her system.

“Oh, my girl!” Alexander cried out in relief, pulling Angelica into a hug. “Don’t ever scare me like that again..”

“But I-” she began, cutting herself off as she saw Philip’s pleading expression. “I thought I saw one of the children… Just an illusion of the night, I suppose…”

“It’s okay. I was just so worried..”

“I’m okay, father..”

Philip smiled and put a hand on his father’s arm. “You’re doing great..” he softly encouraged, even if he knew that his father couldn’t hear.

And, just for a second, Alexander froze. The feeling of a weight on his shoulder and the quiet, almost whisper of what sounded like his late son’s reassurance gave Alexander the strength that he needed.

“Let’s get you inside..” Alexander took his daughter back to the lakehouse and the two went their separate ways, getting into dry clothes and back into bed. Before he fell asleep, Alexander rolled onto his side and glanced out of the window, wondering. The thought of seeing Philip again… It was impossible, wasn’t it? There was no way he saw anything more than what his mind needed, was there? He shook the thought out of his head. Illusion or not, one thing was certain. No matter where Philip was, he knew his son would always be with them.


End file.
